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“Which one?” I ask, but Callum just shrugs and mouths all of them.
“You’re that prepared?” Carefully, he picks me up, not caring about his clothes, and walks us down the stairs and across the room to a side exit. “When did you even have time to do all this?”
“While you sleep.”
While I sleep. It’s things like this that make me a believer in the possibility of a long and happy life with the person you love. Because only someone who cares will plan while you’re asleep to make life easier. They’ll sacrifice their rest and comforts so that when the moment comes, you never go without.
This man loves me for me.
With the good, bad, and ugly. Through sickness and health.
He holds me when I cry.
He understood my need to never discuss my family again, including Jorge being my brother and not the cousin I was led to believe all my life.
He respects, loves, and protects.
Callum is why I’m not afraid to become a mother. To take this step, because I know no matter what life throws our way, he’d never allow what happened to me to happen to our children.
He’s caring and loving and so patient.
My brothers already lean on him. Look up to him.
And when its time to push a few hours later, it’s his eyes I focus on. All I see and understand is his hand in mine, fingers intertwined, while my body handles the rest. The entire delivery lasts a few hours; there was one moment where my blood pressure was high and a concern, but then she cried, and I lost my heart to the Jameson charm all over again.
Paisley Camila Jameson
Sex: Female
Weight: 6lbs 9oz
Height: 19 inches
One year later…
“Are you sure about this?” Malcolm asks, sitting back while watching the scene in front of him unfold. But then again, so is every other man I consider to be family. We’re congregated atop a large deck with a table at the center just a few steps from me, but for this occasion, we stand. The veranda is all that separates us from falling into the den of my two favorite pets: one has lived with me since he was a cub, while the other I took in when the original owner couldn’t keep up with its care.
My Hera and Zeus.
They’re large and hungry.
Vicious and loyal.
To me. Only me.
And I treat them as if they are my babies, more so than the other animals that reside on my more than two-hundred-acre lot. There are various snakes, both poisonous and constrictors, while I also keep a few wolves. However, my Siberian tigers are who we watch today.
For over a year, I’ve babysat Flavio and Santis. Kept them in the same room, provided food and entertainment, while giving them a false sense of security that today won’t be their downfall.
I never lied, but the more you make your prey wait, the easier it is to strike when the time comes. Complacency is a truly vile behavior, makes a person vulnerable—weak—but I did warn them.
A day. A week. Twelve months to the date.
None of that mattered in the long run, because they were always set to die.
The puppet master just hadn’t chosen the when.
“Aye.” Bringing the glass to my lips, I take a sip of my gift. The De Leon family has bought into the liquor industry, taking over a distillery in Cuba known for world-renowned rum. The amber glow alone is sexy while the taste is smoky with subtle tones of fresh pear and coconut, and while I’m not a rum drinker, this one I’m a fan of. “The information given to Aliana is accurate, and those are the codes that lead to their underground vault. One for each bank. Ezra verified it all, and he’s never wrong.”
